Tooth brush



20 au dentists.. This manner. of

35 prior L. Patented Sept. 20,' 1938 ausm i TOOTH BRUSH I lOran C. zachot. Newark, N. J., assigner, by direct and l.mesme half ts, of forty-two and onet to John Vanderkamp, and

and one-half percent to George V. Schuhe! and e Stanley Chadwick, all of Newark. NJ.

application November 14, 193s, serial Nessun i Renewed July 29, 1938 i s claims,v (ci. is-is'n For many years toothbrushes have been made with various contours as to theirbmshing surfaces, but these V.toothbrushes for the most part embodied brush bases or substantially greaterr width than the width of the brush tuft. The use, of these brushes in the manner now prescribed by modern oral hygiene is both painful and difilcult and in some instancesit is impossible to obtain a correct brushing action on cer- 1.0 tain teeth such as thewisdom teeth.

Brushes of the prior art are further character-"- ized by being unwieldly as well as expensive.. 1t is thereforev a desire of the present invention to provide a brush which is small, neatl and conipact.

It is also an object of the present invention to provide a brush which is capable of oscillating movement over the teeth in order to clean the teeth in a manner now approved by practically cleaning requires anoutward brushing action from the base of the teeth and also a different action ipon the glms beyond the teeth. The gums should receive a brushing action which is brought about by a very i slight movement of the brush handle, as the brush itself remains almost stationary, which is done inV order to keep the gums'in a healthy condition.

The outward brushing action Idislodges any .par-

^ ticles of food that may be between adjacent teeth,

and provides the normal cleaning action necessary to cleanse the surfaces of the teeth.

The brushes now sold were in almost every instance designed for an entirely different form of brushing action, that is, the purpose of the art brushes involved a cross wise or move'- ment transverse to the vertical axis of the teeth. This method of brushing has now been entirely supplanted by the modern methodV previously described. It will be seen that I am seeking to l vi0 provide a brush which can be easily placed both on the interior and exterior of the teeth, and which is capable of an oscillating movement which is easily attained without interference from the lips or other portions of the-mouth.

' related ends, said invention, then, consists of the means hereinafter fully described and particu-- larly pointed out in the claims; the annexed drawing and the following description setting 50 forth indetail certain mechanism constituting, however, but one of various applications of the principles of my' invention.

yIn the accompanying drawing- Fig.'1 is a perspective view of my preferred .55 form of novel toothbrush; Fig. 2 is a perspective view with one part in section showing the brush clip removed from the brush handle, and Fig. -3 is a detail section plan view of the brush clip.

My improved brush consists of a brush handle I o0 which may be circular, or as shown, may conrangement for the clip,

.resilient grip the-brush and To the accomplishment of the foregoing and tially parallel planes.

sist `of a'many sided many sided handle makes grasping of the brush and brushing laction therewith easier and this is especially true when thebrush is wet. I

The sides of the brush may or may not be in- .dented with ilutings 2, such construction also 'making a firmer grip more easily attained. The

brush handle body vI has la shaft I projecting from one end about which a base portion 4 pivots, thebase` being held by means of a head 5 on the `shaft S. The base 4 has the same general configuration as the body I, and bothof these elements are tapered in order to impart a pleasing appearance and also to reduce the amount of materialnecessary.

At Athe opposite end of the body I from that justA described, a shaft S projects which has thereon a pin 1. This shaft 0 is preferably provided with a yrounded nose l so as to easily engage the tubular brush clip l. 'Ihe brush clip 9 preferably consists cf a single piece of metal which is lformed with a tubular portion wherein theedges Il and II abut. t one end of the clip the edges In and-II 'are recessed at I2 and I3,

This construction makes it very easy to assemble the clip with the brush handle and also makes it possible, because of the split tubular arto resiliently grip the shaft l. The clip is pushed upon the shaft 6 and the end I6 abuts the shoulder I1 on the body I. This position is shown in Fig. l, and when the clip is seated in this manner the recesses I2 and Il will resiliently grip the pin 1.., In this manner rotary movement of the clip with respect to the brush handle is prevented and due to the clip function as an integral unit. This is believed to be a novel manner of assembling brush clips with toothbrush handles.` as in 'tthe prior art the so-called reilllable brushes require more or less cumbersome locking devices.

-At the opposite end of the clip from that just described the brush is expanded and the edges III and II instead of abutting extend in substan- In this way -a seat for the brush tutt is simply and inexpensively formed and the clip may have a rounded base Il which will offer very little, ifv any, resistance in contact 'with portions of the mouth.

may bebent inwardly slightly to grip the base of tion ywith the angular edges 23 and 24.

In the preferred form of .brush tuft 2B the' bristles are-held by a twisted wire, but it is to be .distinctly understood that I contemplate the Ause of a molded base or any other similar base that may for particular reasons be more desirable to body. tThe provision of a` in assembled relationship The edges I9 and 20 'ference of a circle.

the owner .of the brush. In eitherf event the brush has a cross section which is' substantially in the shape of a truncated cone, bounded byl edges 26 and 21 and a rounded top 20. In the preferred form, the top surface of the brush tuft' is curved so as tov be a segment of the circum- 'Ihis curved or arced outer surface imparts a highly emcient cleansing action because of the pivoted handle construction, as oscillation of the brush is easily obtained. Ob-

viously, the bristles can be forced into the food retaining crevices of the teeth with a simple movem'ent and such food will be readily carried out, thus preventing decay.

It is to be understood that altho I have shown a brush consisting of at least two parts, the brush may be made of one piece construction, and that the body and base portions- I and 4 may be solid or hollow, and also may be made of one piece.

From the preceding descriptionl it will be seen that I have provided a brush that may be oscil.

lated downwardly with respect to' the upper'teeth and upwardly with respect to the lower teeth with a minimum of effort by the user, andwithout awkward engagement with certain portions of the mouth, such as the interior lip portions. 'I'his is amply demonstrated by a comparison of my brush with an ordinary toothbrush.

In the conventional brush the base is at least asI wide as the brush tuft and in order to reach the base of the teeth and upper gum portions it .is necessary to push the wide base with considerable force against the lips.

The lips normally lie close to the teeth and gums Vand it is almost'impossible to obtain a 4correct 4oscillating brushing action with a brush having a wide base because there is n ot suil'icient room between the teeth and inner lip portion ofthe mouth in which to oscillate thebrush.

In sharp distinction to this, my brush can be rotated about a center slightly removed from the center of the clip 9 and without forcing the base I8 ofthe clip up against the lips. Evenif it should be necessary to force this base rvtion upl against the lips the same can be easily and painlessly accomplished because of .the reduced cross section of the clip.

The provision of a pivoted handle base I makes it possible to securelyanchor the base with the little finger, while the forefingers can easily os- `cillate the body I. In this way the user can brush his teeth in the manner now specified by I been provided heretofore but these brushes as far as I am aware usually embodied one or more springs, and'inorder tov brush ones teeth it has been necessary to overcome the Vtension of the spring before power could be applied to brush the teeth. It will be noted that in the vpresent n construction it is not necessary to overcome any spring tension and that an oscillating movement is obtained with the greatest facility.

Finally, the brush'is inexpensive, small, neat and light and can be made of either metal, wood, rubber, Celluloid, or a phenolic condensation product so thatit will last indefinitely.

Other modes of applying the principle of my invention maybe employed instead of the one explained, change being made as regards the mechanism herein disclosed, provided the means stated by any of the following claims or the equivalent of such stated means be employed.

I, therefore, particularly point out and distinc'tly claim as my invention:

1. An article of the character'describedv comprising a brush handle, a shaft on one end of said handle, a freely pivoted base portion on said shaft, and a toothbrush-.mounted on the otherV end of said handle.

' 2. An article of the character described comprising a brush handle, a shaft on one end of.

said handle, a pivoted base portion on said shaft, and a brush clip" removably engaged with said handle, said handle having a. many-sided exterior surface and said clip secured by resilient means to said handle.

3. A brush clip comprising a closedl hollow tubular portionand a channelled portion integral therewith, said closed tubular portion having a flared recess in the wall thereof. y

4. A`n article of the character described comprising a removable part of a toothbrush having a closed tubular portion anda channelled portion integral therewith, said closed tubular portion having a ilaredrecess therein, said recess terminating in 'a partial circle the diameter of which is greater thanthe smallest width' oi' saidilared recess.

5. An article of the character described comprising a brush handle, a shaft xedly mounted on one end of said handle and a base portionrevolvably mounted-onsaid shaft, so as to be freely pivotal and means for mounting-a brush- `ing member on the other end-of ,said handle.

'6. An article of the character 'described comprising a brush handle, a shaft xedly mounted on one end of said handle andra base portion pivotally mounted on said' shaft, the handle and base .portions having elongated tapering configurations and means for mounting a brushing member on the other end ofsaid handle.

7. An article of the character described comprising a brush handle, a shaft ilxedly mounted on one end of said handle and a base portion pivotally mounted on said shaft, the handle and base portions having elongated tapering configurations, means on said handle to promote easy finger-gripping and means for mounting a brushing member on the other end of said handle.

il. An article of the character described comprising an elongated brush handle and a gripping base portion pivotally mounted at one end of said handle, said handle decreasingly tapering in thickness toward said base portion and *means for mounting a'brushing member -on the other end of said handle.

9. An article of the character described comprising an elongated brush handle and a gripping base portion pivotally mounted at one end of said handle, said handle decreasingly tapering in thickness toward 'said base portion, and said base portion decreasingly tapering inv thickness toward said handle and means fork mounting a brushing member on the other en'd of said vhandle. l

onANc. zAEBs'r. 

